Nightmares
by UnleashTheKnightMare
Summary: Nico is suffering from nightmares and a panic attack and Hades is being fatherly. One-shot


A/N: I don't own the Percy Jackson series or the Heroes of Olympus series, Rick Riordan does. And Hades and Nico are probably Ooc.

Nico was sure that the nightmares would kill him.

It wasn't bad at first, so he could ignore it and move on. Sometimes because of his powers, he could direct himself away from the nightmare. But then Tartarus was appearing in his dreams and more specifically, Akhlys. What she said to him was haunting him.

'Child of Hades, what more could I do to you? You are perfect! So much sorrow and pain!'.

And it was Eros too, in all his red eyed glory and how he forced his biggest secret out for Jason to see. Words rung in his head like eerie bells:

'Poor Nico di Angelo. You do not know what you want, let alone what I want. My beloved Psyche risked everything and...for the name of love. It was the only way to atone for her lack of faith. And you, what have you risked in my name?'.

Nothing, he risked nothing in the name of Love, he just ran from it.

' Tell him, Nico di Angelo,tell him that you are a coward, afraid of yourself and your feelings. Tell him the real reason you fled Camp Half-Blood, and why you are always alone '.

He had excepted it, he was undeniably gay and afraid of what he could feel for another person. There was no point in hiding it anymore, the secret was out.

Feelings and emotions were all new too him, happiness was new. Sometimes it got too much and he needed to get away, he needed to. Reyna and the others understood that and sometimes he was short of a panic attack, if he didn't get away.

It was too overwhelming.

And... and his father didn't understand. Not really. He knew his father was trying to be there for him but he didn't understand that his son, Nico, was also healing emotionally as well as physically. Sometimes, on the better days, he'd get called down to his fathers throne room and get sent to capture a rogue spirit that was causing mayhem.

He didn't chase after spirits that much anymore, not that he particularly enjoyed doing it much anyway. It gets boring after awhile.

Today was a bad day though.

His dream was about Bianca. She was there in Tartarus with him, telling him how pathetic he was, getting captured that easily. ' If Papa could see you now ' She had said to him, almost casually ' He would think the same thing, just like Mama '.

Then it was the insufferable jar the twin giants had stuffed him in. He remembered the tightness of the jar and feeling of having almost no oxygen and how he had to force himself into a death trace, then hope for the best. Hope someone would care enough to rescue him from the hellhole. The pomegranate seeds helped with hunger but not a lot, just enough to keep himself alive.

That was about all he had dreamed about. It was simple and about as un- terrifying as you could get from him. And scared him so much. Familiarity was something he could cling onto and when something was unfamiliar, it felt raw.

He sat up with a muffled gasp and nearly knocked heads with someone. His skin was sticky, he felt pale, shaky and really warm.

"Nico!" The person in front of him gasped and he looked up at them. Concerned golden eyes and chocolate skin peered down at him. Vaguely he identified this as his sister but he felt exposed anyway. Tears were running down his face and he was curled into a tight ball.

"I heard you screaming in your sleep again" Hazels soft voice washed over him and he felt a calming sensation wash over him. And his tense muscles he didn't know he had, relax slightly. His eyes roamed the room, looking for an escape to the walls that felt like they were closing in on him. He couldn't breathe, he had to find an escape and need fresh air.

There was a door in front of him.

Suddenly he outside it and running. He could hear Hazel shouts of concern and asking for him to return. He wasn't wearing socks nor pants, only a very big sweatshirt that went to his knees and boxers. And he remembered that he was in the Underworld, so there was a chance he could bump into Hades or Persephone.

He couldn't breathe, his lungs burned. He tried but all that came out was weird choke sounds and no oxygen. The walls felt like they were closing in on him and suffocating him. His muscles burned from running hallway after hallway, trying to find a way out.

Tears slipped down his cheeks and onto the stone floor. If only his father could see him now.

Pathetic. He was acting pathetic...He suddenly collided with a hard wall and he stumbled back, almost falling to the ground. Or rather he collided with a person and the said person grabbed his shoulder to stop him from falling flat on his face. Pathetic.

"Nico" A deep voice says, "What are you doing out of bed this late at night?". He had bumped into his father, oh gods. The hand on his shoulder makes him want to escape and run from the closing walls again. He looked up into his fathers black eyes, expecting to get in trouble but found none of that. Only when he was about to apologize and take off running again, his dads eyes soften slightly and he sighs deeply.

"Come here" Dad demands tiredly, opening his arms a bit. His father had never hugged him before. Why now? He hesitates, before wrapping his arms around his dad tightly. Hades would probably regret it later but at the moment Nico felt safe and the walls seemed farther away.

He remembers vaguely when he was little, when the nightmares would haunt him similarly to tonight. Regardless of how old he was then, Dad meant comfort and he knew he'd stay safe when Dad was there. At night, he'd snuggle up close to dad's chest and listen to the sound of his heartbeat and fall asleep instantaneously.

He doesn't know how long he was standing there crying and trying to stop making sobs, a strange choking sound emitting from his mouth. Dad was just standing there slightly awkwardly and rubbing circles on his back. Neither of them seemed to mind though, even as Dad didn't say anything.

"Why were you running?" Dad asks hesitantly, shifting his feet slightly to accommodate the tingly feeling in them. Nico tiredly smiles into the black cloak and shrugs.

"Nightmares mostly" He mutters, feeling the cold air brush against his bare legs and making him shiver. Arms curl around him tighter subconsciously. "A-and I felt claustrophobic" He whispers embarrassedly, his cold cheeks heating up in a blush. Although he'd ever admit it.

Hades knew it was a panic attack. He'd seen the signs before in his son before, never had Nico bothered to tell him these things. Nico didn't trust Hades all that much and Hades got it. He was a horrible parent to children in the past, and now he was making in actual effort to try and give his children the life he knew they deserved. They had been through too much for young demigods and were slowly healing. Nico had gotten better, so had Hazel but Tartarus was still haunting the poor boy.

Nico stifled his yawn in his father cloak. That panic attack had left him drained and he felt his adrenaline rush fade slowly into the background of his closing eyelids. No, his body didn't care if he was standing up or not. It wanted sleep, it was getting sleep whether he wanted it or not and his vision faded into nothingness.

Hades summoned sweatpants and socks on his shivering son and picked him up bridle style. Sure he was tired but his son came first. His son always came first.


End file.
